The Battle Diaries: Athena Rising
by TheRavenclawNinja
Summary: Set during DH Battle of Hogwarts. Athena Spring deals with death, fights her heart out, and, well, kills a Death Eater. T to be safe.


-1**Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I wasn't J.K. Rowling. **

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**The Battle Diaries: Death Machine**

Name: Spring, Athena

Age: 16

House: Ravenclaw

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Death surrounds me. It has closed in, the fear, the horror, consuming my brain until I reach a point in which I longer react to the carnage that encapsulates me. I do not see dead people; I see bodies, and I see them everywhere I turn. It is not until I see a duel that I remember my purpose: I am to kill Death Eaters.

The Death Eater is tall, but slim. His face is veiled by the shadows until a bright curse lights his features, which are filled with rage, with ravenous hunger for murder and death. The man who is fighting him is ravaged with intense fury, and I realize with a jolt that it is Professor Lupin, my second-year Defense teacher. The madness in his eyes becomes agony as he is hit with a Cruciatus Curse.

I run out of the shadows, struck with a carnal desire to kill. My surprise appearance distracts the Death Eater, and his curse breaks. Lupin jumps to his feet, but I can tell he is weak.

The Death Eater stares straight into my eyes, the scorched ebony of his pupils reaching my ice-blue pools. Lupin backs up, paralleling himself with me. It is time to duel.

He sends neon green jets of death whizzing past our heads; it takes a great deal of ducking and dodging to avoid them. We cast Stunning Spells, Body-Bind Curses, beams of red, yellow, purple, green, missing by millimeters each and every time. After several agonizing minutes of narrowly missed curses and elusion of death by mere inches, a pink-haired witch dashes in from behind and joins the duel.

Lupin and the witch seem to know each other; through an unspoken agreement they fight, pouring their souls into the furious exchange, hoping that the defeat of this one person will bring peace.

The Death Eater can barely handle three on one; he begins to gradually step backwards. He thinks distance will shield him. He is wrong. The witch's hair becomes an irate red and she shoots spells that are like none I have ever seen.

Unexpectedly, the corridor fills with a verdant glow. This can only mean death, pure, brutal, death. A blood-curling scream reaches my ears, and when the green radiance clears I see Lupin on the floor, the pink-haired witch unable to speak, horror ravaging her brain, her heart.

I turn to the Death Eater. His moment of triumph brings a malicious grin to his face. He stares at the dead man and his mourner, eyes twinkling with the joy of his evil victory. He does not seem to register my presence. I raise my wand, and simultaneously he raises his as if we are playing a game of Simon Says. I try my hardest not to be detected. It is not exceptionally hard; the Death Eater is extraordinarily intent on taking the woman's life. He wants to see her body sprawled upon the floor like Lupin's is. Nothing brings him pleasure like the flash of green does.

The sickness of the situation consumes me until the three souls in that corridor are arranged in a triangle of death. My wand is pointing at his chest. His wand is pointed at her head. She is still grasping the situation, trying to realize what happened and what to do about it.

Some sort of strange, sick force triggers my scream of "AVADA KEDAVRA" at the same time his deep voice shouts his command of slaughter. The verdant light blinds me, and when it clears after what feels like a lifetime, I see three bodies. Not dead people, bodies. These lifeless…things…no longer had feelings or thoughts.

I stand there for a long while; time seemed to pass either very quickly or very slowly. My only reminder of life was the screams and the booms coming from outside the castle. I no longer wanted to kill.

I hear the sound of running feet coming down the corridor. I draw my wand, hoping that I do not have to face another Death Eater. As the footsteps drew nearer, I whispered "Lumos!". It was Anthony Goldstein. When he saw the bodies, he stopped abruptly, staring at them like I had been for what may have been hours.

When his shock subsided, he calmly stepped over the Death Eater's lifeless corpse and put his arms around me. He did not have to speak. Emotion, real, true, raw emotion finally came rushing back to my heart and I began to sob.

The next hour is a blur. I find myself in the Great Hall, still sobbing into Anthony's shoulder, surrounded by mourning, crying people. I see the bodies laid out. Lupin and the fuchsia-tressed witch, who I have now learned was his wife, join them, and I try very, very hard not to look at them.

The next thing I am doing is kneeling in front of Voldemort on the Hogwarts grounds. Harry Potter is dead. Hope is lost. What I fought for, it does not matter, and nor will it ever. I keep my head down, attempting to tranquilize myself, nullifying my thoughts, because I know they will only be monstrous daydreams.

The battle returns. I am no longer surrounded by carnage; the Death Eaters can somehow no longer hurt us. When Potter miraculously returns, my heart leaps. Is it over?

And when it is over, I no longer have a care in the world. I never have to utter an "Avada Kevadra" ever again. The sun brings its promise of light and peace onto the world within minutes. Anthony puts his arm around my shoulders, and together we walk into the early morning sunlight, wondering what the coming days would bring.

**AN: I'm thinking about doing more with Athena Spring. Did you like the character? Review, please!**


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